Russell’s Lounge

Great if you like places that remind you of an outdated oversized bowling alley bar, with smoking galore, overly loud outdated house music, and a drink selection that will take you back to your college days of well calls and daily special domestics. Patrons ranged from roaming confused hotel guests to Fred Durst doubles to American Chopper extras.

Russel’s used to be a fun place to party. Last night was the last time I will attempt to go there. The last two times I have gone the band hasn’t been very good and the energy is lackluster. The drinks are weak but very inexpensive. If you are looking for a place to sit and be bored… This is your place! If you are looking to have a good time and shake your groove thang… Keep looking!

This is a Marriott hotel bar and it is populated by people you would expect at a hotel bar. During the week its pretty dead with business travelers who are just trying to belt one back on the company expense account. On the weekends its pretty hopping, with people staying at the hotel, people who live around the hotel, and people who want to meet someone staying at the hotel (no further elaboration needed on that one).
The drinks in this place are watered down to an extreme, making ordering a mixed drink or a premium liquor a rip off (i.e. the prices are low for a reason). So, if you are a wine drinker, stick with that. Better yet, there’s other good bars in the area you could choose as an alternative. They have a limited menu of bar food that’s cooked up at the Bistro 44 restaurant at the hotel, and that’s hit or miss as well. I get the impression the quality of the food is directly related to current relations between the head chef and the bar manager.
The décor is late eighties/​early nineties, and pretty depressing at that. It has a few screens for sports, a small stage that sometimes has karaōke and live bands on the weekends during the summer, and a tiny dance floor.

Russell’s was packed when my friends and I arrived. A couple of guys were nice enough to let us join their table which had the best view of the stage and right by the dance floor. Super Freaks was performing cover songs from the 80’s. They did a decent job if you like that music genre. Honestly, we liked it better when the band took a break and the DJ played current hits.
The dance floor was very small. Often, it was so crowded that everyone kept bumping into each other. The crowd consisted mostly of people in their 40’s and older.
Service was slow at the bar even though there weren’t that many people in line. Prices were cheap but mixed drinks tasted bad.
For guests staying at the Marriott, Russell’s offer suitable entertainment since there aren’t any bars or clubs in walking distance. But for anyone living in OKC, there are far better places to hang out.

You guys. This might be OKC’s best kept dive-​y secret. Clean bathrooms? Cheap drinks? nice staff? Cheesy cover band? Um, yes please! Came here for the 2^nd ‘challenge’ for a friends’ bachelorette party and ended up staying all night for all the aforementioned reasons. Two female bartenders sent over fun shots/​drinks for our bride-​to-​be, and the security guys made sure no one was too inappropriate with our group of lovely ladies.
Yes, there are cougars and yes, there are old cowboys but it is all part of the ambiance that is Russell’s. Cover is $ 8, but there is an ATM inside if you end up there without the cash monies. The next time you find yourself in need of a new place that is different, yet somehow oddly familiar, head down to the lobby bar of the Marriott OKC!

I came out to meet some friends who were staying at the hotel. To be honest it is disappointing. The house band played some fun songs, but the service in the rest of the place is awful. The top shelf margarita and the mojitos were terrible. However, since it took the waiter over half an hour to get the drinks out we had no option but to pay for drinks that barely had three sips taken out of them. They were not too strong, just gross. When our cheese fries finally arrived at our table it was plain to see by the harden shell they formed that they had sat awhile under heat lamps prior to making it to our table. I understand management was circulating through the lounge, but he must not have made it our direction. Maybe service would be better if they would hire more staff, but I would not recommend this place to anyone.

This place was attached to The Marriott and there was an $ 8 cover charge; however, it was free for people who stay at The Marriott. It was the only place close to the hotel (besides Hooters) that had alcohol which was why I came here twice during my business trip to Oklahoma City. My coworkers were already in there so I met them inside. When I arrived, the waitress didn’t see me or something even though I was trying to get her attention. All I wanted was to order a drink but she ignored me. I waited until she came back to order my drink.
The service was super slow because a few of my coworkers ordered food like nachos and a chicken sandwich to name a few. It took about 45 minutes for their food to come; in addition, they messed up one of my coworker’s order so she just decided to cancel it. I tried some of my coworker’s nachos and it was just okay. It wasn’t worth the 45 minute wait though. The waitress also messed up on the bills for everybody so we all had to wait longer for that to be cleared up.
One of the hotel’s employees heard me and another coworker talking about how bad a service Russell’s Lounge was. She called over the manager from Russell’s Lounge to talk with us. It was the waitress’ third weekend or something and she apologized for that. One more star for that.

Russell’s is attached to The Marriott. I’m here b’c this section of town is not walkable and I’m staying at the hotel. Read: no place else to go.
Right now they are playing an interesting, and good at the same tim, mix of 80’s songs. I got the calamari and it didn’t come w aioli like the menu said, just cocktail sauce, lemon and covered in, get this– banana peppers!
What I like about the cocktail menu is that it is broken into sections like sweet, bold, & classic. The waitress is super nice & attentive. And they did a good job on the Sidecar, but lacked on the Old Fashioned.
Rumor has it that a «great band» is going to play top 40s from the 70s & 80s. They are white & will wear Afro wigs. Austin, I miss you so much!